Sony LinkBuds Open review
Wearing the AirPods Pro (review), like I always do, I have in a way signed up to create a bubble around myself, signaling everyone that I am busy while taking a conscious call to block out most sounds around me. But not everyone wants to be that cut off from the world around them and the Sony LinkBuds Open tries to find a middle path where you can be connected to your world and the world outside simultaneously.
The Sony LinkBuds Open can’t be called earphones or earbuds in the true sense of the term. You see the design and you understand very clearly how this is a different concept altogether. Instead of silicon plugs going into the ear canal, the LinkBuds have a ring just outside with nothing plugging the ears. This means you are hearing the audio waves more naturally and ambientially and not in a controlled environment like with the Apple AirPods or any other buds that block out all external noises.
The earbuds itself are very compact. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
I was not sure how comfortable the Sony LinkBuds Open would be to wear.
But my fears were allayed the moment I wore the pair. It feels just like any other earphone, though there is nothing inside your ears, just the ring at the start of the canal. The design of the case is also very unique, while the size is also compact enough for the smallest jeans pockets.
The open design means the audio playback is very different from what you are used to. This is the kind of audio device you wear if you want to give background music to your life. There is even a mode like that where the music keeps playing in your background even as you go about your daily life because you can be in meetings or coffee shop conversations even as you listen to music on the Sony LinkBuds (review) Open. That seems to be the idea too. I used this to help me with sleep one night and the experience was much more natural than wearing a noise-cancelling device where you are alwaysworried you might miss hearing something at night. You can also activate the speak-to-chat option from the Sound Connect app to make this experience even more seamless.
With an open ear design, they let the environmental sound in. (Image credit: Nandgopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
There are two aspects to audio quality here. One is the sheer range at which these earphones work, and this is at par with what most top-of-the-line devices offer. But it is not that simple, since these are open earphones, in a noisy country like India you will need to keep the volume turned up to max most times, and even then you might struggle to hear properly. I tried it on my late evening walks, only to realise I could barely hear William Dalrymple on the Empire Podcast over the din of my Noida sector. I have never noticed this while walking with my AirPods Pro. At home, there is always the ambient noise of kitchen activity and my 13-year-old, even though the music is good enough to drown out the hum of the ceiling fan, which sadly still running as the NCR waits for its winter.
But early morning sessions with the Apple Music Classical app are almost magical as the Sony LinkBuds Open gives you a more natural experience. Sir J MacMillan’s The Gallant Weaver echoed around my living room as if I were in an opera house somewhere. These earphones also offer a very spatial experience and you can even use the regular partner apps from Sony 360-degree music streaming. It was when the playlist slowly ticked over to Riha by Anuv Jain that I really felt this was a great pair for lounging at home with soft music as you let your thoughts wander about what the future holds for you. Jain’s thin voice echoed around me as if I had walked into a soundscape that had a calming effect all over.
Excellent earbuds for those who like to stay connected with the world while listening to music. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
The Sony LinkBuds Open comes with head tracking that works perfectly and you feel it when you are gaming or streaming a movie from Netflix on your phone. The call quality is pretty good and no one could make out you were speaking from something different though the design can’t impact the microphone quality. The battery life can last you a couple of days if you wear it through your work day sliding from calls to video conferences and some content consumption in between.
With a selling price of Rs 18,990, the Sony LinkBuds Open is a complete earphone that does more than what you expect from it. You will buy it for a more natural, but balanced high-fidelity audio experience that is rare in the times of active noise cancellation. This is perfectly designed for those who want to wear earphones at all times at work and extend their music-listening experience to everything they do. I don’t recommend this for those who love loud music, but this is ideal for the purists.
